The Great Ocean Road

So I left the farm all teary eyed and flew to Melbourne. I stayed in an Air BnB and woke up fresh the next morning; ready to start my next adventure.

I got an Uber to the campervan rental place and met my road trip buddies; who were none other than good old Tash and Ben!

We were keen to get on the road, so were quickly shown our home for the next 8 days and my god, is was beautiful! We had a massive Apollo van, complete with; an oven, a fridge, a shower, a toilet and heating – it was a right treat!

Day One

We left Melbourne and headed straight for The Great Ocean Road.

Our first stop was the Great Ocean Road sign:

We then got on the road, and got a few hours under our belt. The beauty of having your own mode of transport, is that you can stop and do whatever you want; which is precisely what we did as soon as a sign for a chocolate factory popped up.

The three of us parked up and entered The Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie, and the first thing we were greeted with were bowls piled high with dark, milk and white chocolate – all for free!

We were only meant to have one spoonful each, but there were no chocolate police around…

We finished our trip with a cheeky ice cream and headed back on the road:

We made good distance and after a few hours; it was time for another stop. At first, I thought it was just an average lighthouse (too old to function, so now a historical) however, Ben read a sign that revealed it wasn’t, and was in fact, the lighthouse used in my favourite childhood show; Round the Twist! I may have spent the rest of the day singing the themetune…

Next up was another few hours in the car, we constantly stopped off to enjoy the views; there were so many!

The final touristy stop of the day was at another Great Ocean Road sign, but this time it was made of wood and right by the water:

We parked up in a wee town called Lorne, got cosy in our mansion of a van, cooked paprika and garlic chicken thighs for dinner and went to bed.

Day 2

We spent the morning wandering around Lorne; watching early morning rowers on the sea and taking in the sights (whilst learning about WikiLeaks).

We left Lorne, and headed on our way to Apollo Bay, however the beauty of road trips added a wee treat for us yet again. You see, we stopped off at Kafe Koala Kennett River for some morning treats and to the right side of the cafe I spotted a family feeding parrots. I’d been to Australia when I was a kid and knew how friendly the birds were, so ran straight over to join in.

Ben and myself made friends with the parrots; we absolutely loved feeding them, Tash however wasn’t too confident with them and couldn’t bear to have them land on her.

We also saw some other wildlife in the forms of wild koalas chilling in the trees and baby ducklings, that I may have tried to take home…

After that cute wee encounter, we headed to the next destination – which was apparently ‘the most significant lighthouse in Australia’. Cape Ottway was the place!

It was a very weird place to say the least; it was marketed to be like a historical themepark – instead it was basic buildings, with a few vague plaques, dispersed across a large piece of land.

We walked up the lighthouse, it wasn’t anything special; tried to leave but instead were trapped in an awkward conversation with a very lonely tour guide.

After talking about lenses for half a hour, we finally left and were greeted with the coldest and most powerful winds ever. Somehow, these winds blew us into a wee cafe where Ben and I ended up having scones, how crazy!

After that little pick me up, when went for a wander to find an aboriginal hut:

The tour guide was also peculiar, and he didn’t want us to leave either! He was so passionate about the indigenous culture and showed us the old map of Australia, detailing each tribe and their boundaries. There was so much more to learn, but we’re saving that for Uluru!

Final stop of day two was the infamous Twelve Apostles. And, my God, it was freezing! I mean it was so bloody cold, I looked like I had changed religion for the day…

Aside from the extreme winds, it was beautiful! Truly breathtaking views, and seeing them at sunset made it even more magical.

That night, we stayed on a farm where kangaroos ran free. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.

Day 3

The last leg of the Great Ocean Road was approaching, we had a few things to tick off our list before we could say we had completed it mate.

We rose early and beat all the tourists to the hotspots; first up was the Loch Ard Gorge:

Then we headed over to the London Arch:

The Grotto was next:

And then finally we saw The Bay of Islands:

I wish I could tell you all the history of the names, but I’m not a plaque reader. What I can educate you with though, is that everything was once joined onto the mainland and the sea eroded the rock. So, in the future we won’t have twelve apostles!

And that was it, The Great Ocean Road was now finished! We were a bit sad leaving the beautiful views, so Ben pulled the van into a cheese factory whilst Tash and I were napping, giving us the best surprise as we awoke.

We all ate far too much of the free samples, again, and bought some of the delicious produce. I chose a raclette, whilst Tash and Ben went for a vintage cheddar.

It was the perfect ending to the Great Ocean Road Trip, next up Port Lincoln!